Pondathon Sign Up and #TBR!

Hi everyone! Welcome to my sign up and #tbr post for Pondathon, The Quiet Pond’s Story-Driven Readathon!

What is the Pondathon?

The Pondathon is a co-operative and story-driven readathon hosted and run by CW from The Quiet Pond. The aim of the Pondathon is to read books and collect points to protect the friends over at The Quiet Pond from the encroaching malevolent forces that threaten our friends in the forest.

Have fun participating in the Pondathon readathon by joining one of five teams, each with a unique way to collect points and signing up! You can also follow the story of the Pondathon as it unfolds, and participants can also complete ‘side quests’ during the readathon to collect extra points. The readathon takes place from January 24th 2020 to March 7th 2020. More information about the readathon can be found here.

Information about Joining the Pondathon

1. To join the Pondathon, simply sign up anytime between January 18th 2020 to March 5th 2020.
2. Choose a team, create your own animal character for the Pondathon and create a character card!
3. Create a blog post, bookstagram post, booktube video, Twitter thread, or whatever medium you wish, with ‘#Pondathon’ in the title or your tweet. Share the character you have created and your character card!
4. Link back to this post so that others can find this readathon and join in.

Share your updates on your blog/bookstagram/booktube and social media. You are more than welcome to tag @thequietpond or @artfromafriend on Twitter or Instagram in all your updates! We’d love to see all of the beautiful and awesome characters that you create!

My Pond Character

My Pond Character is called Juniper, Singer of Stories! Juniper is a pink fox who wears pink glasses and accessories (flower crown and necklace). She also carries a purple book so she can read during any spare second! Juniper is part of Team Xiaolong, and is looking forward to reading stories to help in the fight against the darkness that threatens the Pond.

My Pondathon TBR

Okay, anyone who’s visited Kait Plus Books before probably knows that I am… horrible with TBRs. At least the part where I try to stick to them! But I do love making them, so here are some books I’m planning on reading during Pondathon (although, let’s be honest… I’ll probably change it up as soon as this is posted)!

How to Build a Heart by Maria Padian
Published on January 28, 2020 by Algonquin Young Readers
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Pages: 352
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One young woman’s journey to find her place in the world as the carefully separated strands of her life — family, money, school, and love — begin to overlap and tangle. 
All sixteen-year-old Izzy Crawford wants is to feel like she really belongs somewhere. Her father, a marine, died in Iraq six years ago, and Izzy’s moved to a new town nearly every year since, far from the help of her extended family in North Carolina and Puerto Rico. When Izzy’s hardworking mom moves their small family to Virginia, all her dreams start clicking into place. She likes her new school—even if Izzy is careful to keep her scholarship-student status hidden from her well-to-do classmates and her new athletic and popular boyfriend. And best of all: Izzy’s family has been selected by Habitat for Humanity to build and move into a brand-new house. Izzy is this close to the community and permanence she’s been searching for, until all the secret pieces of her life begin to collide.
How to Build a Heart is the story of Izzy’s journey to find her place in the world and her discovery that the choices we make and the people we love ultimately define us and bring us home.  

Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen
Published on January 7, 2020 by HarperTeen
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, YA
Pages: 432
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“Our cousins have done this program,” Sophie whispers. “Best kept secret. Zero supervision.”
And just like that, Ever Wong’s summer takes an unexpected turn. Gone is Chien Tan, the strict educational program in Taiwan that Ever was expecting. In its place, she finds Loveboat: a summer-long free-for-all where hookups abound, adults turn a blind eye, snake-blood sake flows abundantly, and the nightlife runs nonstop.
But not every student is quite what they seem:
Ever is working toward becoming a doctor but nurses a secret passion for dance.
Rick Woo is the Yale-bound child prodigy bane of Ever’s existence whose perfection hides a secret.
Boy-crazy, fashion-obsessed Sophie Ha turns out to have more to her than meets the eye.
And under sexy Xavier Yeh’s shell is buried a shameful truth he’ll never admit.
When these students’ lives collide, it’s guaranteed to be a summer Ever will never forget.

Five ​Dark Fates by Kendare Blake
Series: Three Dark Crowns #4
Published on September 3, 2019 by HarperTeen
Genres: YA
Pages: 452
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon, Instagram

View Spoiler »After the battle with Katharine, the rebellion lies in tatters. Jules’s legion curse has been unbound, leaving her out of her mind and unfit to rule. Arsinoe must find a cure, even as the responsibility of stopping the ravaging mist rests heavy on her shoulders, and her shoulders alone. Mirabella has disappeared.
Queen Katharine’s rule over Fennbirn remains intact—for now. But her attack on the rebellion exacted a high price: her beloved Pietyr. Without him, who can she rely upon when Mirabella arrives, seemingly under a banner of truce? As oldest and youngest circle each other, and Katharine begins to yearn for the closeness that Mirabella and Arsinoe share, the dead queens hiss caution—Mirabella is not to be trusted.
« Hide SpoilerIn this conclusion to the Three Dark Crowns series, three dark sisters will rise to fight as the secrets of Fennbirn’s history are laid bare. Allegiances will shift. Bonds will be tested, and some broken forever.
The fate of the island lies in the hands of its queens.

Most Likely by Sarah Watson
Published on March 10, 2020 by Poppy
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Pages: 384
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Ava, CJ, Jordan, and Martha (listed in alphabetical order out of fairness) have been friends since kindergarten. Now they're in their senior year, facing their biggest fears about growing up and growing apart. But there's more than just college on the horizon. One of these girls is destined to become the president of the United States. The mystery, of course, is which girl gets the gig.
Is it Ava, the picture-perfect artist who's secretly struggling to figure out where she belongs? Or could it be CJ, the one who's got everything figured out...except how to fix her terrible SAT scores? Maybe it's Jordan, the group's resident journalist, who knows she's ready for more than their small Ohio suburb can offer. And don't overlook Martha, who will have to overcome all the obstacles that stand in the way of her dreams.
This is the story of four best friends who have one another's backs through every new love, breakup, stumble, and success--proving that great friendships can help young women achieve anything...even a seat in the Oval Office.

The Mall by Megan McCafferty
Published on June 9, 2020 by Wednesday Books
Genres: Contemporary, Historical Fiction, YA
Pages: 320
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New York Times bestselling author Megan McCafferty returns to her roots with this YA coming of age story set in a New Jersey mall.
The year is 1991. Scrunchies, mixtapes and 90210 are, like, totally fresh. Cassie Worthy is psyched to spend the summer after graduation working at the Parkway Center Mall. In six weeks, she and her boyfriend head off to college in NYC to fulfill The Plan: higher education and happily ever after.
But you know what they say about the best laid plans...
Set entirely in a classic “monument to consumerism,” the novel follows Cassie as she finds friendship, love, and ultimately herself, in the most unexpected of places. Megan McCafferty, beloved New York Times bestselling author of the Jessica Darling series, takes readers on an epic trip back in time to The Mall.

We Didn't Ask for This by Adi Alsaid
Published on April 7, 2020 by Inkyard Press
Genres: Contemporary, YA, Queer
Pages: 304
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram

Central International School’s annual lock-in is legendary. Bonds are made. Contests are fought. Stories are forged that will be passed down from student to student for years to come.
This year’s lock-in begins normally enough. Then a group of students led by Marisa Cuevas stage an ecoprotest and chain themselves to the doors, vowing to keep everyone trapped inside until their list of demands is met.
Some students rally to their cause…but others are aggrieved to watch their own plans fall apart.
Amira has trained all year to compete in the school decathlon on her own terms. Peejay intended to honor his brother by throwing the greatest party CIS has ever seen. Kenji was looking forward to making a splash at his improv showcase. Omar wanted to spend a little time with the boy he’s been crushing on. Celeste, adrift in a new country, was hoping to connect with someone—anyone. And Marisa, once so certain of her goals, must now decide how far she’ll go to attain them.
Every year, lock-in night changes lives. This year, it might just change the world.

The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks
Series: The Nameless City #1
Published on April 5, 2016 by First Second
Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade
Pages: 232
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The City has many names... and no name.
Built on an ancient mountain pass, the City is forever being invaded by one nation or another, and every new master gives it a new name. But for the natives, their home is the Nameless City, and those who try to name it are forever outsiders.
Dreamy, sheltered Kaidu is one such outsider. He's a Dao born and bred — a son of the latest nation to occupy the Nameless City. Cynical, street-smart Rat is a native, and at first she hates Kai for everything he stands for. But Kai's love of his new home may be the one thing that can unite these two unlikely friends. And they will need to stand together at all costs...
...because the fate of the Nameless City rests in their hands.

The Stone Heart by Faith Erin Hicks
Series: The Nameless City #2
Published on April 4, 2017 by First Second
Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade
Pages: 246
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Kaidu and Rat are View Spoiler »only just recovering from foiling the assassination attempt on the General of All Blades when conflict breaks loose again. Disputes and treachery are making it impossible for the Dao rulers to follow the diplomatic solution Kai's father has devised to give all peoples - not just the Dao - say in the future of the Nameless City.
Even more complicated, Rat may have the key to uncovering a vast weapon wielded by the mysterious founders of the City - a secret hidden long ago, and a secret Kai may be unable to keep. To reveal it would be to betray his friendship with Rat and his new home. But to betray the Dao « Hide Spoilermay have dreadful consequences for everyone and everything Kai and Rat both love...

The Divided Earth by Faith Erin Hicks
Series: The Nameless City #3
Published on September 25, 2018 by First Second
Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade
Pages: 267
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The Nameless City―View Spoiler »held by the rogue Dao prince Erzi―is under siege by a coalition of Dao and Yisun forces who are determined to end the war for the Nameless City once and for all. And the people of the city―the "Named"―are caught in between.Meanwhile, Rat and Kai must infiltrate Erzi's palace and steal back the ancient and deadly formula for napatha, the ancient weapon of mass destruction Erzi has unearthed―before he can use it to destroy everything Rat and Kai hold dear!
« Hide SpoilerIn her third and final installment in the Nameless City trilogy, Faith Erin Hicks delivers a heart-thumping conclusion. With deft world-building, frantic battle scenes, and a gentle and moving friendship at its heart, the Nameless City has earned its place as one of the great fantasy series of our time.

The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton
Published on May 5, 2020 by Page Street Kids
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Pages: 384
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok

In this gender-swapped, feminist A KNIGHT’S TALE meets MOXIE, rescuing everyone, especially her family, is seventeen-year-old Kit Sweetly’s greatest aspiration. It’s a heroic impulse, but her schemes usually make things worse. Working as a wench—i.e. waitress — at a cheesy medieval themed restaurant in the suburbs of Chicago fuels her fire for glory, and Kit dreams of being a knight, like her brother Chris. She knows the moves, she’s capable on a horse, and she desperately needs the raise that comes with Knighthood, so she can help her mom pay the mortgage and hold a spot at her dream college.
Defying company policy, Kit takes her brother’s place as knight one evening. When Kit reveals her identity at the end of the show, she rockets herself into internet fame and a whole lot of workplace trouble. But when Chris gets seriously injured at work, Kit has to find a way to monetize her fame in order to pay his hospital bills. Not to mention navigate a changing relationship with her best friend and longtime crush, while galvanizing the company into changing their sexist policies.
If she can’t figure out how to save the day in time, she’ll lose her job, her family’s house, her spot at her dream college, and the guy she loves.

Doesn’t the Pondathon sound so cute?! CW has done such a great job creating all of this! Are you joining the Pondathon Readathon? Let me know in the comments (and be sure to link up to your own posts if you are!) and have a splendiferous day!

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• Pondathon 2020